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PLoS Biology—We're Open

Abstract

PLBI0101_fmi-31.indd Volume 1 | Issue 1 | Page 002PLoS Biology | http://biology.plosjournals.org Volume 1 | Issue 1 | Page 003PLoS Biology | http://biology.plosjournals.org Welcome to PLoS Biology. We would like to introduce you to your journal, one that is run by and for the scientific community in the broadest sense: researchers, teachers, students, physicians, and the public. One could argue whether scientists need more journals, but we believe there is a global need for greater access to scientific and medical information and that open-access journals can meet this need by removing subscription barriers to the written scientific record. As professional editors, each of us entered the publishing world from the research community with the desire to promote the effective communication and dissemination of science. Offered the opportunity to help spark the transition to open-access publishing by creating an open-access journal that would compete successfully with the most prestigious existing journals, we jumped at the chance. What you see in this issue is the result of a collaborative effort among the founders, the journal’s editorial board, and its professional editors. A glance at the table of contents and the list of outstanding scientists on our editorial board will give you a sense for the scope of the journal, which ranges from molecules to ecosystems and spans the experimental and theoretical disciplines that help to explain our biological world. We aim to publish original articles that address an important question, that challenge our assumptions, that drive science forward. Our editorial and peer-review process combines the expertise of both professional editors, who are available on a full-time basis to survey the broad landscape of science as well as to engage reviewers and communicate decisions, and academic editors, who understand deeply the strengths and limitations of their area of research. Readers benefit from a se
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